Audra Lindley
Born
September 24, 1918
Died
October 16, 1997 (79 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Audra Marie Lindley (September 24, 1918 – October 16, 1997) was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Lindley was the daughter of show business parents. She got her early start in Hollywood by being a stand-in, which eventually progressed to stunt work. Nothing panned out, and she went to New York in her mid-20s to work in theater. Among her many Broadway plays were: On Golden Pond, Playhouse 90, Long Day's Journey into Night, and Horse Heavens. She took time off to get married and raise five children. Upon resuming her career, she began to make steady appearances on television, including the role of Sue Knowles on the CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and a six-year stint as manipulative "Aunt Liz" Matthews on the NBC soap opera Another World. She also had regular roles as Meredith Baxter's mother in the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie, as well as Lee Grant's best friend in Fay.
Her greatest fame arrived when she began playing the wisecracking, perpetually unfulfilled and sexually frustrated Helen Roper on the hit sitcom Three's Company (1977). (Lindley wore a wig to maintain the character's exaggerated hairstyle.) The character and her husband, Mr. Roper (played by Norman Fell), were spun off to their own show, The Ropers (1979), which was not a success. Lindley continued to appear steadily on television and in film, such as Revenge of the Stepford Wives in 1980 and as Fauna, the owner of the "Bear Flag Restaurant," a Monterey, CA brothel portrayed in the 1982 film Cannery Row. In 1982, she appeared in the film Best Friends starring Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds.
One of her last roles was a character part in the lesbian-themed film Desert Hearts (1985). Lindley wanted to reshoot one key scene. The director, Donna Deitch, replied that they did not have the budget for reshooting. Lindley said that she would buy a portion of the film if Deitch let her do just that one take again. Deitch agreed, and Lindley kept her word.
Lindley garnered further parts of all sizes in various TV films and series, including playing Phoebe Buffay's grandmother on Friends, and her last, a recurring role as Cybill Shepherd's mother on the CBS sitcom Cybill. She had also played Shepherd's mother in the 1972 film The Heartbreak Kid.
Lindley died from leukemia on October 16, 1997, at Cedars Sinai Medical Center with a Cybill script by her hospital bedside.
She was married to and divorced from Dr. Hardy Ulm (1943–1960); they had five children. She later married and divorced James Whitmore (1972–1979)
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Sisters and Other Strangers
Irene Connelly
1997

The Relic
Dr. Matilda Zwiezic
1997

Sudden Death
Mrs. Ferrara
1995

Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan
Jean
1995

Friends
Frances · (1 episode)
1994

The New Age
Sandi Rego
1994

The Corpse Had a Familiar Face
Monica/Edna's mother
1994

Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
Katherine Kendrick
1994

Just My Imagination
Elizabeth Thompson
1992

Absolute Strangers
Anne Zusselman
1991

Tales from the Crypt
Anita · (1 episode)
1989

Troop Beverly Hills
Frances Temple
1989

Bridesmaids
Lulu
1989
Take My Daughters, Please
Rebecca
1988

Spellbinder
Mrs. White
1988

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake
Mrs. Chaney
1988

Stamp of a Killer
Granny
1987

Sunday Drive
Aunt Joan
1986

Matlock
(1 episode)
1986

Desert Hearts
Frances Parker
1985

Murder, She Wrote
Maggie Saunders · (1 episode)
1984

Best Friends
Ann Babson
1982

Cannery Row
Fauna Flood
1982

The Day the Bubble Burst
Evangeline Adams
1982

Skyward Christmas
Billie
1981

Revenge of the Stepford Wives
Barbara Parkinson
1980

The Silent Lovers
Laura Hope Crews
1980

Pat Boone and Family: A Christmas Special
Self
1979

The Ropers
Helen Roper · (28 episodes)
1979

When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?
Ceil Ryder
1979

Pearl
Lily - General's Wife · (3 episodes)
1978

Getting Married
Catherine Lawrence
1978

The Love Boat
Anita Wolfe · (1 episode)
1977

The Love Boat
Mrs. Worth · (2 episodes)
1977

The Love Boat
Portia Fairchild · (2 episodes)
1977

The Love Boat
Agnes Larrabee · (1 episode)
1977

The Love Boat
Vanessa Norris · (1 episode)
1977

The New Love Boat
Mae Allen
1977

Three's Company
Helen Roper · (76 episodes)
1977
Fay
Lillian · (10 episodes)
1975
The Bob Crane Show
(1 episode)
1975

The Canterville Ghost
Mrs. Otis
1974

Chico and the Man
(1 episode)
1974

The Heartbreak Kid
Mrs. Corcoran
1972

Bridget Loves Bernie
Amy Fitzgerald · (24 episodes)
1972

Taking Off
Ann Lockston
1971

Another World
(1643 episodes)
1964

The Mike Douglas Show
Self · (1 episode)
1961

Route 66
(1 episode)
1960

Naked City
Sheila Braden · (2 episodes)
1958

Naked City
Grace Youngham · (1 episode)
1958

Naked City
Mrs. Denton · (1 episode)
1958
From These Roots
Laura Tompkins · (343 episodes)
1958
An American Girl
Mrs. Davis
1958

Search for Tomorrow
(1 episode)
1951
Lux Video Theatre
Irene Stoddard · (1 episode)
1950
Lux Video Theatre
Nurse Claxton · (1 episode)
1950
Lux Video Theatre
Olive · (1 episode)
1950

Robert Montgomery Presents
(3 episodes)
1950

Robert Montgomery Presents
Maggie · (1 episode)
1950

The Philco Television Playhouse
(2 episodes)
1948

The Male Animal
Student (uncredited)
1942

Dangerously They Live
Nurse (uncredited)
1941

One Foot in Heaven
Mother (uncredited)
1941

Manpower
Nurse (uncredited)
1941